Frequently Asked Questions - Title Insurance

Logging on to the Sonoran Title website is very simple.  You have been emailed a User Name and Password.  If you need us to send it to you again, give us a call and we can send it right over.  After you type in the User Name and Password click the “LOGIN” button.  If you click the “Remember Me” box, your web browser will remember that you have logged in already and will have you logged in as soon as you open our web page.

Now that you have logged in, you will notice that you have a few more buttons on the lower right hand side of the website.  The first button is Title Rate Quote.  Click that button and it will take you to the quote page.

Start by putting in your clients zip code, and click enter.  The system should recognize the zip and complete the rest of the address.  In the event the City field is not populated, it is because there is more than one city listed for that Zip Code.  Simply use the bring down arrow to select the city the property address is located.

Following the boxes you can select what type of loan transaction you are requesting a quote.  The “*” fields are required information.  After you complete page 1’s required fields, press enter on your keyboard and it will take you to page 2.

If the default recording information is correct simply select “get quote” and you will receive your quote with any recording fees, transfer taxes, and all of your title fees listed by box for your GFE.

All 4 boxes are broken down for you on one quote.  Each box is circled for you in red.  The Total with fees represents a escrow and insurance charges before any recording and taxes that are required to pay.  Adding your total with fees + recording + any taxes will give you a total cost for the transaction.

Frequently Asked Questions - Escrow Services

As a buyer or seller, you want to be certain all conditions of your sale have been met before property and money changes hands. The technical definition of an escrow is, "A transaction where one party engages in the sale, transfer or lease of real or personal property with another person who delivers a written instrument, money or other items of value to a neutral third person, called an escrow agent or escrow holder." The third person holds the money or items for disbursement upon the happening of a specified event or the performance of a specified condition.

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Frequently Asked Questions - Title Insurance

There are many title troubles that can arise to cause the loss of your property or mortgage investment. Hidden risks, that is title troubles which are not disclosed, even by the most careful search of public records, are the most dangerous. Hidden risks can make your title worthless. Your attorney's examination may be the finest that skill, experience and legal knowledge can produce, but your title may be fatally defective.

Here are some title troubles that frequently occur. You may not discover them when you buy real estate, but months or years later, they can result in an expensive lawsuit or even the loss of your property.

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Frequently Asked Questions - Title Insurance

Title insurance is a contract to protect an owner against losses arising through defects in the title to real estate owned. If the title is insurable, the company guarantees the owner against any losses due to defects in title or expenses in legal defense of the title up to the amount that policy is the purchase price of the property.

The theory of title insurance is that in the ideal instance, no risks are taken. This belief arises because a policy is not issued until careful examination of the title has been made. Title insurance, therefore, performs two functions: one, an efficient title search, and two, insurance against loss by reason of certain defects in the title. However, title insurance does involve risks.

Since the accuracy of the examination of title records is the keynote of a successful title insurance company, and since efficient examinations are the key to doing business, title insurance company operations have come to center on "Title Plants". These plants contain the records of the County Recorder's Office which show the history of title to any parcel of land. In addition, the Title Plant contains a file containing a record of past searches and examinations of title. These serve as starting points for future searches and examinations of title. In brief, the Title Plant contains a concise record of pertinent information to enable skilled technicians to conduct short, efficient title examinations and issue its Policy of Title Insurance.

Frequently Asked Questions - Title Insurance

In every real estate transfer the matter of a title examination invariably arises. The home buyer often questions whether title insurance is really necessary, particularly when an examination of the title has been completed by an experienced title examiner or real estate attorney, and the examination of all available title records show no adverse information which questions the marketability of the title. But... does an examination of title records necessarily remove all concern for title problems eventually surfacing?

The answer is NO... and that is why title insurance exists and why it plays such a basic role in protecting the real estate interests and equity of policy holders.